Upland Birds

Southern Utah upland bird hunting offers a rare combination of natural beauty, first-class facilities and guides dedicated to a quality experience. The native cover and cultivated fields stand as a magnificent embodiment of time and natural landscape necessary to produce a unique bird hunting environment.

Upland enthusiasts will find plenty of chukar, pheasant, quail, grouse and turkey living in brushy canyon draws, rocky ravines, and irrigated grasslands. The quality of our hunts and scenery are simply unmatched! Feel free to bring along your dog or choose to hunt behind our pointers or labs. Fremont River Guides professionally trains their own dogs which are field tested and extremely fun to watch while they work to find your birds.

Southern Utah offers a myriad of hunting opportunities. Whether it is one of the thirteen available species of upland birds, our important waterfowl migration, or our vast mountain ranges and big-game hunts that interest you, Fremont River Guides can offer a professional guide to help in the success of your hunt. Our experienced staff offers services on the Henry Mountains, Boulder Mountains, Thousand Lakes Mountain, Fishlake Mountain some private land surrounding them.

Of course, pheasants are plentiful on many of our private ranches and some can be found on the public domain as well. Our ultimate goal is to provide the type of experience you used to have in the field when you were able to see good bird numbers and have a great chance at shooting a bag limit. Our private land hunts are usually managed as close to a “wild hunt” as possible, but if you like the “kick and shoot” style then we can arrange for that as well.

Throughout the year, even during the nesting, laying, and chick phases, on these ranches there is predator control and certain types of grasses are cultivated for nesting material and loafing cover to offer the birds a greater chance of survival. With this type of management plan, we are able to produce some good numbers of wild birds. Additional numbers are supplemented weekly to ensure that hunters experience many flushes.

Chukars are fast flyers and typically more challenging to hit than pheasants. They often run in coveys and cover a lot of ground, and are most effectively approached from uphill. If you approach them from below, you can expect to see disappearing runners on the distant skyline far above you. When flushed, quickness on the trigger will increase your success. Often times during the hunt you will hear them up in their rock hideouts talking to each other. They make for some great sport and even better eating.

In Southern Utah there are wild Chukar to be found in various regions and a guide is recommended due to the vast expanse of public land. Fremont River Guides are experienced in finding these coveys where a constant source of water, feed and habitat are present. And we are not afraid to be straightforward with our clients so that you know what to expect when chasing these little devils.

Since the introduction of California valley quail to Utah many years ago, we have been enjoying great hunts without crowds. Our river bottoms are composed of many hidden ravines and hills loaded with thickets and cover perfect for these species. Many coveys can be found, but you must be willing to walk distances, and be patient. Be ready, as they will flush when you least expect it and are very fast flyers. Some Gambel’s quail can be found but are becoming more rare year after year. We recommend a mixed bag hunt to fill-in while in search of these pretty little upland birds.

Turkeys are doing well, especially in south-central Utah. Southern Utah has a lot of turkey habitat, including oak brush on every range. Turkeys do really well in that type of habitat which is why the harvest rate of these hunts are high.

Grouse hunting in the southern half of the state is tremendous. Great numbers of blues can be found on every mountain range as well as roughed grouse at somewhat lower elevations. Our guides enjoy these beautiful birds and scenic places they are found. We recommend hunters couple grouse hunts with other species which makes for a full day…if you can handle it!